Monday, December 31, 2007

Tonight we gave a dinner party in honor of Ben's grandparents, who are in their nineties. They are active, intelligent and lovely. They inspire everyone around them.

Yesterday and today were for making everything about the setting and dinner extra special.

That meant things like polishing silver and cleaning every corner. Then making things like prime rib and extremely delicate and persnickety chocolate sauces.

It was for choosing the right linens and candles and scents. It was for dozens of other details. Everyone who's ever put on a formal dinner party can appreciate the work involved.

So then, I cut the tip of my right ring finger at about 5pm, and Aubrey had to step in and finish a few things for me. Good experience for her. She hopes to own a specialty bakery one day, so improvisation is good practice.

It was so very worth every effort. But next time...I'm hiring help.

Anyway, the thing is... I had this really interesting sort of epiphany this afternoon. Taking the sage advice of the previously blogged life hacks, I made a note to write about it later instead of killing myself trying to get it written out now. It can wait.

I hope next year I make many things you enjoy. I hope next year we learn a bit more together. I like traveling through time and space with you.

I thank you for being with me this past year. Your input has relevance to my life and my work. You make me think. You make me laugh. Thank you.

Pete has gone to drive Ben home. Aubrey and Matt have gone to a party. I am not even really in shape to drive even this keyboard, between the dinner wine and the ..uh, cooking wine. Oh, then there's the huge bandage on my finger, which is throbbing nicely. That too.

So I'm going to put on comfy clothes and play Super Mario Galaxy with Orion. That, I can drive.

In the words of my beloved Sponge Bob Square Pants "You don't need a license to drive a sandwich."

Thursday, December 27, 2007

I start the morning by surveying the holiday carnage rife in every room of our home, in every corner of what used to look like an art studio.

A familiar feeling, like looking over a deep abyss, steals over me. I ask first the question of where to begin?

I could motivate myself with a nice bit of panic. No need. I have coffee.

Deep breaths instead.

It's reset time for the household and for the studio. This means there are long lists of things to prioritize, delegate, schedule and do. This year we have several large projects and many smaller ones and more humans involved. After the New Year holiday we'll 'hit the ground running'. We've been gearing up to this for months. Now, here we are. A bit scary, a bit exciting.

The good thing is that we work smarter than we used to. The good thing is that there is lots of work to be done. The good thing is that we are aware of many terrible things around us.

The good thing is that we will make every effort to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. The good thing is that we'll accept our human responsibilities without wasting time on guilt. The good thing is that we'll marvel at new technology. The good thing is that sometimes we'll screw up. The good thing is that we will make art. The good thing is that we're traveling through space and time, living our lives. The good thing is that it is we and not me.

They are all good things. Like the oranges I picked from our front yard today. Bigger inside than out, worlds unto themselves. But too many good things can roll us over if we don't stay on target.

Creative sorts of people tend to go off on tangents. This is often a good thing---my best ideas seem to happen when I'm busy at work already. But side trips can eat up our time, get us lost.

This sort of wandering, (particularly bad for types like me who tend to approach projects like we're fighting fires) can lead to distraction and frustration. One of the best bits of advice I've ever heard on this subject comes from life hacks Danny O'Brien and Merlin Mann.

In an article from Make Magazine (I cannot say enough about Make) they write:

"Solving the world's problems is something good hackers achieve, often as a side effect. But you don't have to spend all your time lost in your own life's subroutines - even if that's where the best fun is to be had."

If you find yourself deep in plans for the coming year, or trying to clean up the mess from the last, you might want to give things a closer look before you start. Seems to me that we could all use a good refresher course about yak shaving.

The new year approaches with all that comes with it. I think I'll use these last few days to clear my head, breathe deeply and stretch. It's never a good idea to run (or swim!) without warming up and stretching.

I know many of you are standing on similar starting lines. I'd like to hear your plans and ideas for implementing them.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

The holiday tree sits in a bucket of water, ready for standing and decorating. Aubrey, Matthew and Orion will decorate and Pete and I will actually leave the house, brave the world and do some gift shopping.

It's our wedding anniversary today. We have brand new matching his and her colds, so are saving the fancy dinner until we can actually taste it. Instead, a simple night of shopping and later, a movie at home near the fireplace. We rented Angel A, having seen a preview at the local theater where we see most indie films.

We'll remember the wedding--the white paper pinwheels and gossimer in the breeze, the hundreds of candles, the mysterious mime on the dancefloor, which friends got drunk, who stepped in the fountain, that sort of thing. But not for too long, because we like now.

Now is pretty good.

And tomorrow is my birthday. Same plan. Simple and warm, but with cake.

Everything is better with cake.

And Gurtie, of course, says "whatever."

***

Ravyn has listed some of her painted foals on ebay and says they can arrive in time for hanging on the tree. You can't really appreciate how tiny and detailed these are until you see one in person. I have some, and I was surprised and delighted when I opened the packages.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

This has been a weekend for ordinary things. Several deadlines have been met, the rest are in the hands of others for the moment; shippers shipping, craters crating, printers printing and authors authoring.

Tomorrow very early, Ben and I are to begin the studio remodeling/reorganizing project. Then I'll start posting photos of studio work again. After a full year of projects and no clean up, we are(ok, I am) ashamed to show the state of our workplace.Not to mention the massive tool migration. Screwdrivers and clamps, lying down together--I tell you it's madness.

I'll likely show a couple of new pieces--several are very close to being finished. But mostly January will be for organizing and working on book projects, some Poppety and some---well, sheesh, I guess they're all Poppety in one way or another.

So yes, this weekend was about not hurrying and eating lots of food. I did brush my teeth, but I don't think I brushed my hair even once. I wore my favorite ratty jeans and a baggy sweater.

And it was for sleeping in a bit, with cats and kids. Well, one cat and one kid--but they require the space of two.

Pete and I watched the A & E presentation of Blazing Saddles with commentary, which gave us a whole new appreciation for a movie already a favorite.

We installed a new faucet in the kitchen. I'm pleased to say we were only squirted once. It's shiny. It doesn't leak at all. And it's shiny.

I liked the blue tv light on Orion's face as he watched 'The Grinch" (the animated one, with Boris Karloff.) At night before bedtime, he watches an episode of Samurai Jack. He likes the dubbing in French. He asks me questions. He reminds me that I speak French quite poorly.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Today Orion is home from school with a croopy cough. Yes, it is winter in the desert. I'm finishing up the Play with Toys packing. Having fun with it, actually, working up front near the fireplace where it's warm and I can whisk Mr. Croop off to the bathroom for steam if need be.

The studio is very chilly today. No place for artists, unless they're Bent, who is somewhat like a polar bear.

And, shopping online. As every day, shopping online. If I'm not ordering studio supplies, I'm ordering gifts. Mostly books, lots of books. I'm thinking that this year I'll have done at least 80% of my gift shopping this way. But what about the romance of getting out in the nippy weather downtown? Forget it. Downtown Palm Springs can be fun, but it looks nothing like a city and everything like a strip of tourist shops at the beach. Except for the mountains.

anyway,

Angie (aka studio rookie) sent this little clip called "Shopping in Texas." Short and cute(?). Even though you already know what's coming, thought you might like it.

Anyone take their Poppets shopping? I'd like to see some Downtown Poppets on Tour. Uptown Poppets?

Monday, December 10, 2007

Ravyn sent me this Reindeer-costumed Foppet. Cinnamon Poppet makes a near-perfect playmate, so I paired the two to wrap up the holiday sale. Please forgive me for adding it on late, but it is so cute I couldn't bear to let it sit until next year. (Though I could've been persuaded to keep them for myself.)

It's Monday, and the last two weeks have seemed to be made up of 48 hour days and not much sleep.

It's like that during the holidays. The business is, well, busy. The museum project deadline is upon me and others, including the Strange Roads cover.

And this weekend Alison and Logan visited, Orion's best buddy Sophia had her birthday party...

it goes on and on. All of them good things, like loads of happy, healthy kids running around the Discovery Museum, sweet baby kisses and shopping for gifts online.

And yes, packing Poppets with notes to collectors.

Still, it's A LOT of good things.

So last night became one of those nights when I kept waking, thinking of lists and deadlines and worrying about things I could control and things I couldn't.

Trying to convince myself that I'm more 'enlightened' than the exhausted, stress-out human tossing in her covers didn't help a lot.

Even my favorite pillow seemed to be working against me.

So I found myself sort of lost in a blizzard of loose thoughts, stumbling much like the Poppets from my header, toward a vague light ahead where things can be sorted out with clearer vision.

Today I'm not so lost. It took a step back, a cup of coffee, watching a geek-humor-laden Simpsons episode with Pete and appreciating a view of the snow on the mountains. I know a good life when I see it, stresses and ow-my-back included.

I don't have to be superwoman today. I'll be happy to be a person who gets the day's orders shipped out and the plants watered.

Luckily, I managed to wrest a couple of pieces from her for the sale; a "Creep", this one, Nosferatu, and a "Smidgen" Nosferatu. I've listed them both at introduction prices and a bonus Little Red Poppet.

I had to. They're just too weird not to share.

Hope you're enjoying the Play With Toys pieces and your winter, so far.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

I like it when Orion decides to join me for creative time. He says, "Today, I am a painter."

Which seems a poppety way of looking at things-- as they are, without pretext or qualifications.

It doesn't occur to him to think "I will be a painter," or "I might be a painter."

He paints, therefore he is a painter.

When the music went to an upbeat track, we gave each other that crazy look, took off our aprons and our jig, polka,

kung-fu combo took over.

We danced and so for the moment, were dancers.

For the moment can be a very good thing.

Tomorrow more Poppets will be sent on their various journeys. Then I'll be a painter too for awhile.

Tonight Pete and I saw "No Country for Old Men." We saw a window this evening to catch a movie and jumped a the chance to see a Coen Bros. film, knowing little else about it. I found it sparsely beautiful and well acted and early on was stuck by the quality of the writing. Sometimes, it's not a terrifically easy film to watch. The credits revealed it is based on Cormac McCarthy's 2005 book of the same title.

That explained a lot.

I read McCarthy's The Road this year, finding it one of the most moving books I've ever read.

Monday, December 03, 2007

Today the voice of sanity spoke up and told your artist it's time to rest. This piece, called "Poppet Tricks" will wrap things up except for a couple of Foppet's Poppet (arriving in the next couple of days from Ravyn) and two other ooak Poppets. All adorable, of course.The other art pieces will have to wait until January, for I must turn my attention now to completing the cover painting for Strange Roads.

And, I must start getting some sleep. Otherwise I'll be known as your late artist.

So there-- those of you bidding on pieces in the sale can know where things are, and that I won't spring a must have on you at the last minute. As much as I like trying to wow you, reason prevails.

Anyway, here is a little video of Poppet Tricks, an illusion box that proves most difficult to photograph, especially for a tired artist in a paint-stained apron in need of less coffee and more dreaming.As always, I truly appreciate your enthusiasm and love of Poppets and other creations. Ebay doesn't allow mention of donation, but each sale sends support to organizations including, NCAC, NORML, CBLDF and The Bill Hicks Wildlife Foundation.

Because Poppets are more than pretty faces. As are you, dear readers and thinkers.

It begins to feel a lot like winter. Stay safe! Time for feet up and the joy of TiVo. (I do look forward to spending some time with that darling "Reaper" devil. As Bugs would say, "Ain't he a stinker!"G'night

Friday, November 30, 2007

Today has been cold and rainy all day. No school tomorrow, YAY! The pool looks forlorn, but Orion and I toasted marshmallows in the fireplace. It's cozy inside...

but not so great for taking photographs,

so

tomorrow I'll put up more auctions and very likely more on Sunday, including a BRAND NEW RATBAG RAT and even some HATS for your favorite Neil Rat.

And yes, even more Poppets.

In answer to the comment from Gerald Perry: I think you're referring to the kinetic sculpture called "No Refunds, No Returns," which is part of the Dark Caravan series. The series resides currently at a private residence in VA, but will be installed next year in the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.

---time for apple cider. I think there may be some snow on the mountains.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

This original sculpture is called "Love Be Nimble, Luck Be Quick." It's largish and kinetic (electrical) and lives in a niche in the stairwell at Neil Gaiman's house. It has lived in the niche for a long time now and may even be a bit dusty. But Neil tells me it still works creepily and that its story lives somewhere in his head.

Play With Toys will offer the first few releases of a limited edition of the original yellow jester from the sculpture. It's very much like the original jester, poor thing, that must eternally evade the lustful Frog, who attempts to snag him with an umbrella.

The edition includes the wire and cobalt cat's eye bead hanger-- a very small edition of fifty numbered sculptures.

We're putting in lots of hours, drinking lots of hot tea and yes, having some fun.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Thursday, November 22, 2007

I woke at 6:40 in a fluttery sort of panic, wondering why my alarm hadn't gone off and why I was sleeping in Orion's room. Then I remembered that there's no school today and that I'd come in when Orion had a nightmare.

I fell asleep again to dream about a clean city full of lights that reflected and refracted off wet buildings and huge drops of falling rain. Orion and I glided down broad empty avenues in joyful abandon, banking turns like surfers on boards, two Bandicoots racing through a world in my head, temporary and colorful as a soap bubble.

When I awoke again, it was to discover the mild cold of yesterday had grown mighty and invaded my chest which now seemed full of lead. I tried to locate a part of my body that didn't hurt. My hair, I think.

Cold medications, a long hot shower and tea with honey and lemon from a neighbor's tree will make me human enough to function. Because today is a day for gathering with loved ones, feasting, and remembering things that are good.

Of which there are many. Among them, for me, the certainty that we humans are larger inside than out. We have the ability to create worlds and change this one. That and the hope that one day we will move past our human infirmaries and our fears of one another and CLICK! All those lights will illuminate at once and we then will fly.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Deslily has created a waving poppet on her blog and other photos. Her Poppet (named Kester) also encounters Gandalf. That one cracked me up. Thanks Deslily!

The studio is bustling with activity, the household is bustling with activity. We find ourselves in the season where days begin early and end late. Where parents hand off information like relay batons, dividing to conquer tasks and searching out holes in schedules to spend moments together. It's difficult work, but leaves us feeling alive and purposeful.

In my head, I'm forever finding ways to distill concepts into simple representations. Of course I am. My work is just that and it follows that I'd think that way. Hmm. Or did I think that way first and the work followed?

no matter

For instance, yesterday Orion brought me a seemingly impossibly tangled Slinky to fix. Truly it looked like a lost cause, but I managed it. (hint--requires concentration and patience)

In my mind , a person who can untangle a Slinky without damaging it will likely be able to manage a business successfully.

On the other hand, a few weeks ago he brought me one of those little parachute toys with the strings seemingly impossibly tangled.

Without a second thought, I cut the strings off and put new ones on.

Possibly it's not only the ability to untangle the Slinky. Possibly it's also knowing when to untangle and when to start over.

Tomorrow I plan to read, watch a DVD with Pete (Daywatch--no spoilers please) and play some games with Orion. Maybe I'll play with some clay while reacquainting myself with a certain sofa.

Sometimes working at home is a very good thing.

Still, the studio is bustling with new work. Ben and I are very happy to have Angie join us.

We have been three mad elves, making.

Though the nights are cool with dark starry skies, the weather is too warm for fall. The time change from the totally nonsensical 'daylight saving' summer hours adds it's own bit of chaos.It's not a thing like time travel.

But none of that has slowed the madly making. It will be interesting indeed to see what comes about when the temps drop and we can work with the doors open.

******I thought you might enjoy the work of Sue Boehme. I do. I have a small piece of her work that's a clay sculpture from what must be a very strange garden. I hope to have more in the future.

***

Also, I am remembering to thank Ravyn for designing the bookmark given as part of the RIP Challenge.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

I like this photo of the door. When I first saw it, I got the impression of peering into some surreal daytime landscape in the distance.

Hope you had a good Halloween.

We did, though there was little time for decorating. I truly missed building something huge and knarly this year, but don't regret focusing my efforts into the work for Poppet Planet.

So...

While Two Dads took Orion and Sophia for Tricks or Treats, I ( having managed to wrench my knee) spent an unusually quiet evening with my feet up, reading in a house of jack o lanterns, ghouls and rats.

And thinking about new things to make. It seems I'll be able to now, because I've selected my assistant and after her first two days of working, I can already see more studio time for myself.

This is a very good thing.

So, between reading (a bit of Stephen King, a bit of a new and odd story in progress by Mr. Gaiman) I thought of new things to make and projects to finish up.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Yesterday the sky blazed with pinks and oranges, the sort of desert sky that only appears in the fall.

These spectacular orchestrations of moisture and light are impromptu performances, quick and viewed only by those diligent enough, or lucky enough to catch them.

In fact, as Orion learned, a sky full of colored light can vanish as though by a magician's trick, leaving a sense of wonder with a touch of loss. Next time the sky blazes, he may watch more intently, waiting for the disappearing that he now knows comes next.

I was, not diligent, but lucky enough to capture Orion's experience on camera.

I feel a little like an intruder, and you might too. But how often, really, do we get such a close look at a moment of learning? Orion, thank you.

Today is Halloween. It's a good day, with jack o' lanterns blazing through the house. Tonight will be for Tricks or Treats and playing in the dark.

Then tomorrow it will be gone. Just like that.

Still it leaves us full in Autumn, the season lots of us love best, with moments both bright and dark for us to wonder at.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Already this morning the fires were on our minds. We begin our days with the news, hoping for improvement, sad for the damage already done. By midday we could see the smoke moving over the mountains and by four thirty, when I took this shot from our back yard, it brought us the somber reality of loss.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Packages will be shipped out every day for the rest of the week. Poppets and other creatures head out in many directions, seeking new homes, adventures and friends.

If you've ordered something and are wondering where it is, it's very likely on its way. If you have any questions, you can reach me at the harlikn7@aol.com address.

Thanks to all of you for your comments and reception of the Halloween season creations. We had way too much fun.

On Friday Orion and I swam in very cold water. I'd tell you the temp, but I really don't want to know because I suspect if I did, I wouldn't get back in. It was fun, and funny and really cleaned and scrubbed all the rooms in my head. It's sort of like swimming in summer. It just takes longer to get in and out of our suits and instead of checking for prune fingers, I check for blue lips.

It was too windy for swimming today and, unfortunately, perfectly windy enough for fires. It's that time of year again. Fire season in SoCal. Things are not so good in Malibu.

Tomorrow is for dusting off giant eyeballs and other things for putting in our front yard.

Monday, October 15, 2007

So, we played in the dark, talked about light and how photographs are made.

He left for school with a photograph and new information pinging around in his head.

Soon enough he'll put it aside, then later on, he'll connect it to other information, constructing, piece by piece, his map of how things are.

*****

Today I received new stories from Peter Beagle, written around art images I sent him. I was both surprised and delighted at how he interpreted the art and where he went.

Strange Roads indeed.

*****

I'm reading bits of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, looking forward to more bits. Later I may envy you, wishing I could read it again, for the first time.

***

Orion and I won the Gran Prix of Mario Kart today. He in first place and I in second.

We rode in the parade. We danced...for real.

***

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has erected its first billboard in Madison, Wisconsin. If you live comfortably near Madison and have a Poppet and send me a Poppets On Tour photo of your Poppet with the billboard I will happily send you another poppet of the color of your choice.

No kidding!

*****

And a few days ago Derek Ash sent me two new Halloween poems. They are cool and sort of...poppety.

***

Today was the first day of a shipping marathon. Poppets are headed out in many directions to all sorts of new adventures.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

We had dinner at Supreme Dragon. We talked about many things, Pete, Bent and me, but eventually, we got around to talking about thestateofthings, as we seem to do.

The stateofthings seems as dark as always, a bit darker in places.

I can't stop noticing the several ridiculously huge fish swimming in the gigantic aquarium a few feet away. It's a tall

aquarium and the fish appear to congregate at the pane nearest our table, turning in near unison to stare our way. I think of how little kids assign sentience to all creatures. I think of fish staring down from a tank in the center of the room at humans who sit at tables, eating fish and discussing thestateofthings.

When I still believed ladybugs mulled things over, I listened to my parents and their friends at dinners, talking about thestateofthings. I couldn't understand what they said, just that they were worried and if they were worried, thestateofthings must be pretty dark. The world was different outside of my back yard. And sometimes darkness was very near indeed.

So I played.

Now it's my turn to worry, think and do what I can about thestateofthings. I know ladybugs don't have brains.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

During the worst of this summer's oppressive heat, we likened our situation to that of people trapped inside by winter weather. We seemed even to suffer from a sort of cabin fever. Stuck inside, hammered down by the heat.

We are revived now, with cool breezes. Flowers are blooming everywhere. Our fall is sort of like spring. Full of life and energy.

Time for going to the park, watching the stars and of course, playing in the dark.

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Lisa is the creator of Poppets and other art. Talented authors tend to write stories about images she makes. At Strange Studios, in Palm Springs, California, she and fellow artist Benton Warren create fantastical kinetic works. This blog is about Poppets, life in the studio and other strange goings on.